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comb

¹

[kohm]

|

noun

a toothed strip of plastic, hard rubber, bone, wood, or metal, used for arranging the hair, untangling it, or holding it in place.

any comblike instrument, object, or formation.

the fleshy, more or less serrated outgrowth on the head of certain gallinaceous birds, especially the domestic fowl.

something resembling or suggesting this, as the crest of a wave.

a honeycomb, or any similar group of cells.

a machine for separating choice cotton or wool fibers from noil.

a comblike instrument for imparting a grainlike finish to a painted surface.

Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. a ridge of a roof.

a series of springlike prongs projecting from a spine, usually of plastic, for making a loose-leaf binding.

a trowel having a notched edge for applying adhesives in setting tiles or the like.

Armor. a ridge along the top of a helmet, especially of the morion.

Masonry. drag(def 31).

the upper edge of the buttstock of a rifle or shotgun.

verb (used with object)

to arrange or adorn (the hair) with a comb.

to use (something) in the manner of a comb: She was slowly combing her fingers through her hair.

to remove (anything undesirable) with or as if with a comb: She combed the snarls out of her hair. They combed the cowards from the group.

to search everywhere in: He combed the files for the missing letter.

to separate (textile fibers) with a comb.

to scrape with or as with a comb.

to sweep across; rake: High winds combed the seacoast.

verb (used without object)

to roll over or break at the crest, as a wave.

Origin of comb

¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English comb, camb; cognate with Old High German kamb (German Kamm), Old Norse kambr, Greek gómphos “pin, peg,” gomphíos “molar tooth”; see cam¹

Related formscomb·less, adjectivecomb·less·ness, nounun·combed, adjectivewell-combed, adjective

combings

[koh-mingz]

plural noun

hairs removed with a comb or a brush.

Origin of combings

First recorded in 1565–75; comb¹ + -ing¹ + -s³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for combing

straighten, rummage, rake, forage, investigate, scrutinize, inspect, examine, sift, scour, ransack, sort, curry, tease, cleanse, separate, groom, smooth, disentangle, untangle

Examples from the Web for combing

Contemporary Examples of combing

But do you think the same amount of media resources would have been dedicated to combing through Lerner's emails as Palins?
The IRS Email Double Standard
Matt Lewis
November 25, 2014
Cops went searching for a would-be suicide bomber, combing through the north-central part of the city.
As Gaza War Comes Home to Israel, a Reluctant Suicide Bomber Emerges
Itay Hod
August 4, 2014
He says investigators are combing through all the homicides over the last decade to find other similarities.
Italy’s Scariest Serial Killer Returns
Barbie Latza Nadeau
May 7, 2014
The police searched all the rooms looking for any Stavitsky documents and combing through financial records.
The Mafia Ruling Ukraine’s Mobs
Jamie Dettmer
March 23, 2014
Right now 29 airplanes and 18 ships are involved in combing the area where on Sunday the satellite found the debris.
Was MH370 Carrying Killer Cargo?
Clive Irving
March 21, 2014

Historical Examples of combing

To all of this the deputy listened sadly, combing his mustaches.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
The shorter staples are made into flannels and light woolen goods; and the longer are extensively used for combing.
Address delivered by Hon. Henry H. Crapo, Governor of Michigan, before the Central Michigan Agricultural Society, at their Sheep-shearing Exhibition held at the Agricultural College Farm, on Thursday, May 24th, 1866
Henry Howland Crapo
Palla, combing out her hair, gazed absently into the mirror.
The Crimson Tide
Robert W. Chambers
But he saw her hand, encarmined by that glare, upon the combing of the cockpit.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June, 1930
Various
His hands were combing through it and he was frowning majestically into the distance.
Pagan Passions
Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for combing

combings

pl n

the loose hair, wool, etc, removed by combing, esp that of animals

the unwanted loose short fibres removed in combing cotton, etc

comb

noun

a toothed device of metal, plastic, wood, etc, used for disentangling or arranging hair

a tool or machine that separates, cleans, and straightens wool, cotton, etc

Australian and NZ the fixed cutter on a sheep-shearing machine

anything resembling a toothed comb in form or function

the fleshy deeply serrated outgrowth on the top of the heads of certain birds, esp the domestic fowl

anything resembling the comb of a bird

a currycomb

a honeycomb

the row of fused cilia in a ctenophore

go over with a fine-tooth comb, go over with a fine-toothed comb, go through with a fine-tooth comb or go through with a fine-toothed comb to examine very thoroughly

verb

(tr) to use a comb on

(when tr, often foll by through) to search or inspect with great carethe police combed the woods

See also comb out

Word Origin for comb

Old English camb; related to Old Norse kambr, Old High German camb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for combing

comb

n.

Old English camb "comb, crest, honeycomb" (later Anglian comb), from West Germanic *kambaz (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German camb, German Kamm, Middle Dutch cam, Dutch kam, Old Norse kambr), literally "toothed object," from PIE *gombhos, from root *gembh- "to bite, tooth" (cf. Greek gomphos "a molar tooth," Sanskrit gambha-s "tooth").

comb

v.

late 14c. (implied in past participle kombid), verb derived from comb (n.); replacing the former verb, Old English cemban, which however survives in unkempt. Related: Combed; combing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with combing

comb

see fine-tooth comb.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.